Hey, so I’m doing decently now with CR, but I still have a problem. Whenever I look at the answer key to check my choices, I immediately know why my answer was wrong and the right answer was right when looking at the correct answer, but when I was doing the problems, I did not consider that choice and the supporting evidence for it as seriously as I did my wrong answer choice. Any tips on how to fix this problem?
Hi @thetex , I know what you’re talking about. This really just requires more practice and drilling with understanding the answer choices after taking the sections. Something that may help you could be retaking sections after it’s been a while since you’ve taken it and treating it as a new section to see if you’ve truly learned why some answers are correct and some are incorrect. I would also look at the supporting evidence and see if you can identify patterns in what kinds of evidence you may weigh more heavily or assumptions you incorrectly make. Practice will help you the most here.
Great! I just wanted to make sure I have the correct mindset. More practice with the right mindset will eventually perfect my CR skills right?
By the way, for your 800 in CR, how many did you miss?
Hi @thetex , yes, more practice with the correct strategy will help you perfect your CR skills! I’m not sure how many I missed on the CR section - it’s been a few years since I’ve taken the SAT. I think I missed only 1 or 2 at most on the CR section - maybe 1.
I am confused about this question.
As with so many endeavors, nature writing has become
increasingly specialized. There has been a generally healthy
movement from the anthropocentric to the biocentric, from
human focused to world focused, a movement that Thoreau
anticipated late in his life with his more scientific writing. 5
This movement has led to some fine objective writing,
but it has also led to many dull pages, exhaustive and,
occasionally, exhausting works.The problem is that readers
are human beings and therefore naturally interested in the
human. The driving youthful question that enlivened 10
Thoreau’s Walden—How to live?—has been all but
forgotten.
- The passage as a whole best supports which statement about the "movement" (line 3)?
(A) It had surprisingly little impact on readers.
(B) It would have dismayed Thoreau.
© It vastly improved the genre of nature writing.
(D) It involved losses as well as gains.
(E) It was a regrettable development.
As a whole, the passage talks about the negative impacts of the movement. The only phrase that states the movement has benefits is “This movement has led to some fine objective writing.” I chose E because the question asked about the passage as a whole, but D was correct. Does hard evidence in the passage override anything?
Hi @thetex . Great question to bring up. I wasn’t sure at first what the answer was upon first reading through it. I can see that several of the answer choices are tempting to select, but I will go through why the incorrect ones aren’t supported.
Answer A is incorrect because while the passage shows that readers were more interested in human-focused works, the passage doesn’t state that there was surprisingly little impact - rather, it was not a surprise but natural that humans would like to read about human-focused writing.
Answer B is incorrect because Thoreau anticipated the movement with his later scientific writing and the passage mentions very little on his own personal opinion.
Answer C is incorrect because the passage seems more negative on the genre of writing and not positive.
Answer D is correct because there is some “fine objective writing” but also “dull pages, exhaustive and occasionally, exhausting works.” This answer is fully supported by the passage by saying there are losses and gains.
Answer E is incorrect because while it seems that this transition to world-focused writing away from human-focused writing has brought about dullness and the loss of focus on humans, the passage doesn’t support that it was a regrettable development. There were some positive gains through this movement, and while the movement has shifted focus away from humans, that doesn’t directly support this answer choice of saying it was a regrettable development.
I realize that it may seem very subtle and confusing why D is correct over E, but using the devil’s advocate framework to help look for direct support in the passage and not to mix in assumptions and what you feel from the passage will help you understand these types of questions better. Keep up the good work!
Hey @Apoc314 I know this is a bit off topic but do you mind explaining #12 on the no calculator math section with the polynomials…I’m still quite confused even with the explanation 
https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sites/default/files/psat_nmsqt_practice_test_1_answers.pdf
Hey @Cece0499 , so I have reposted the question here and will try my best to explain it.
Question 12
p(x) = 3(x2 + 10x + 5) − 5(x − k)
In the polynomial p(x) defined above, k is a constant. If p(x) is divisible by
x, what is the value of k?
A) −3
B) −2
C) 0
D) 3
The question is saying that the entire polynomial is divisible by x. If we expand the polynomial and group like terms, we get 3x^2 + 30x - 5x + 15 + 5k which reduces to 3x^2+25x+(5k+15). If we divide this by x, the only way p(x) is fully divisible by x is if there is no fraction remaining. If we divide it out by x, it becomes 3x + 25 + [(5k + 15)/x]. If (5k+15)/(x) is an integer divided by x, p(x) is NOT divisible by x. Thus, we make 5k + 15 equal to 0, because 0 / x = 0 and allows for p(x) to be divisible by x. k is then equal to -15/5 = -3, which means answer A is correct. Does that help? Please let me know if I may better explain that - thanks!
@Apoc314 Thank you for taking your time to reply haha and that helped a bit! I still have my questions, but I understand the general gist of the answer. An integer divided by x would leave a fraction, so k must be equal to (-3) to cancel 15 out. This leaves (3x^2 + 30x)/ x which will give 3x+30 and no fraction. That’s basically my understanding of it.
@Cece0499 , yes, that’s the general gist. If the 15 wasn’t cancelled out, then no matter what x is, p(x) is not divisible by x. So that’s the correct understanding. Good luck!
Hi @Apoc314
I first became interested in arcana* when I was given a deteriorating leather-bound 1911 edition of the “Encyclopedia Britannica”. A dubious gift, I thought at first—then I started using it. The 1911 “Britannica” is said to be especially reliable in its literary and historical entries but outdated in its coverage of science and technology. I found both assessments to be off the mark. The literary and historical entries often turned out to be Western cultural imperialism at its worst, whereas the science and technology entries were a cabinet of wonders, a window into the ingenuity of the human mind when its information is insufficient and it must therefore chew more than it can bite off.
*Mysterious or obscure knowledge accessible only to the initiated
- The narrator believes that the ''literary and historical entries'' (line 3) are (A) factually correct and interesting (B) controversial, but well-informed (C) dated, but worth reading (D) elegantly written, but esoteric (E) extremely narrow and biased
Why is the answer E? 
@Apoc314 I am an international student and English is not my native language. I first attempted SAT on June and get a CR of 670. Now my practice scores are in low 700s, and most of the questions I did wrong is vocab in context or function questions like" the line XXX primarily serves to". I know a lot of words, (I did all the sentence completion right on actual test), but sometimes I do not know the exact meaning and usage of these words. Can you give me some suggestions that can help me get a CR of 750+? Thanks!
@Apoc314 Thanks a lot for your tips I finally am getting around 800 on critical reading.
Thanks for these tips, they are really helpful!
Thanks for these tips, hope I can continue to do just like I am now on my practice tests 
Hi I have a problem with this question.
The many factors affecting a species’ abundance seldom act in _____; on the contrary, interactions between factors are commonplace.
A. Haste
B. Principle
C. Place
D. Isolation
E. Miniature
The correct answer is (D) Isolation. Can you help explain for me please. I’m very confused.
Hey @Apoc314 ! I now take only 1 to 2 extra minutes to complete a section (At last!!) but sadly my score is stuck in the mid 600s. I am now practicing and studying vocab everyday. Do you advise me to do anything particular that would help lift my score to 700+?
@Jessie88 Choice D is the only answer that makes sense. The second clause of the sentence states: “on the contrary, interactions between factors are commonplace.” Thus, it implies that interactions are commonplace, and that the factors are rarely isolated. No other choice makes sense when kept in the blank. Hope this helps.
@inshm2016 The author states “…I found both assessments to be off the mark. The literary and historical entries often turned out to be Western cultural imperialism at its worst…” thus implying that the description of the “Encyclopedia Britannica” as reliable in its literary and historical entries is fallacious. The later proceeds to state that the literary and historical entries turned out to be “Western cultural imperialism at its worst”, thus implying that the literary and historical entries are (E) extremely narrow and biased.
This is the greatest struggle of my life so far and causes depression and nightmares when I’m sleeping. Unlike math and writing, which is just memorizing rules (I can score 800 consistently in both now) critical reading is just too hard for me. I’ve tried to follow your advice apoc, and my scores went up 150 points, but I’m not improving anymore.
I’ve done 40 practice tests and my critical reading scores still fluctuate from 650-800. I go hard on every mistake I make and all the questions I’m even unsure about. Literally everything I get wrong is questions where I’m debating over 2 choices, and I still can’t effectively eliminate the wrong choice. What should I do now?